PUTT-PUTT

When my daughter was a kiddie, I introduced her to a children's inter-active game where the lead character was a purple car. Myself too, grew to like this lovable character that I nicknamed my car "Putt-Putt". Who is "Putt-Putt"? Read on:

Putt-Putt, an endearing little car was envisioned and created by Humongous Entertainment. Putt-Putt could do almost anything and his first adventure (1992) took him to the moon. "Putt-Putt is the flagship title of the company," said Brad Carlton, Design Director, Humongous Entertainment, Inc. "He led the way for the children's adventure game genre in a company founded by traditional adventure game designers Ron Gilbert and Shelley Day, who recognized that the market for intriguing, interactive game play for children was there."

Putting Story and Character First

The genesis of the company, which sold more than 16 million games to date, was to fill a niche being ignored by other game developers -- story driven, versus activity driven, game play for kids. Their first character, Putt-Putt is a caring, loving, helpful little friend within the body of a purple car. Putt-Putt and his other Humongous Entertainment friends, Pajama Sam, Freddi Fish and SPY Fox, reside in richly detailed animated worlds that allow for a child's interactive exploration and learning. Each of these worlds foster fun, companionship, helping and other important life skill. "One of the things that makes us a leader is that the characters are engaging, bringing the kids into the evolving stories," Carlton explained. "The games draw people in and both the children and the parents have fun with the products. We take our roles very seriously here and we want to teach our users how to be social people in a social world." When creating a new story driven adventure or sports titles, the Humongous Entertainment team begins with the story line and script. The group uses movie and comedy writers which helps provide entertainment value for parents, while crafting a story that is entertaining and exciting for children.